1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a safety line system for emergency personnel, such as firefighters. Such a safety line is called a xe2x80x9cTagLinexe2x80x9d by firefighters. More particularly, the invention concerns a deployment container or bag or pack having a safety line disposed in it which may be fed out from an anchored free end of the safety line while being carried into a smoke-filled building by a fireman so that the fireman may be guided by the safety line under conditions of darkness and dense smoke in returning to the anchored end thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art
In numerous fire fighting situations a firefighter or other emergency rescue personnel, such as medical personnel, often need to enter a burning structure to search for victims in different areas. The structures are often filled with thick, dense smoke, and it is very difficult for the firefighter to see through the smoke. Such conditions are very dangerous for the firefighter when he or she attempts to find the way out, because the firefighter can easily become disoriented or lost in the thick smoke. Fire department regulations often require that the firefighter carry a safety line to assist in finding the way out.
Heretofore, it has been common for a firefighter to have a safety line or tag line attached to him at one end with the other end fed out to him from a safe point of a smoke-filled building. The firefighter could then return to the point of entry by following the safety line. Oftentimes, however, such a safety line is not used, because such a line has not been easy to deploy or carry.
Other types of lines are used by a firefighter for the safe descent from a higher place to a lower place or for effectively preventing people from falling from dangerous heights. Such lines are also designed to be heavy and strong so that they can support a person""s full body weight. However, in many cases when a firefighter is working where these types of height related safety devices are not necessary, such lines are too heavy and time consuming to operate. The primary purpose of having a safety or tag line attached to a firefighter on any level within a structure is to provide a guideline to find the way back or to permit others to find the firefighter in case the smoke is too thick for visibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,613 dated Aug. 27, 1991 is directed to a safety tracer or line for firefighters in which a reel or housing for a coiled cord is clipped to a belt of the firefighter with the free end of the cord anchored to a door or the like of a burning house or building. When the firefighter enters a room to be searched, the end of the cord may be anchored to the door and the cord unreeled upon walking or movement of the firefighter away from the door. The cord may be used as a guide for the firefighter to find the door in the event of thick smoke or the like.
An object of this invention is to provide a container or bag for a safety guideline carried by a firefighter so that the guideline may be easily folded into a pack fitting within the bag and then without becoming tangled easily pulled or fed out from an opening in the bag upon anchoring of the free end of the line to a door or the like of a burning structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a safety guideline for firefighters which is folded into a pack with an end extending therefrom and where the end is anchored to a door or the like and the pack is carried by the firefighter into a room of a smoke-filled building while the line extends out of the bag to guide the firefighter to the point from which he/she entered the building or to guide others to the firefighter in the even the firefighter needs help or is in trouble.
The invention is directed to a safety line deployment system including a container or bag which may be hand carried by a firefighter in one embodiment or may be secured, such as by strapping onto the body of the firefighter, in another embodiment. While the invention may be used particularly by firefighters, it is to be understood that the term xe2x80x9cfirefighterxe2x80x9d as used herein includes other rescue personnel, who may be searching for persons trapped within a smoke-filled building. A safety guideline, preferably formed of a flat fabric such as webbing material, is folded into a pack fitting in the container. A free end of the safety line extends from the container and is secured to an anchoring means, such as a hook to be fastened to a railing or the like, or a block which may be thrown over or under an open door with the safety guideline passing in the space between the door and door frame. Upon entering a structure to be searched through an open door, the free end of the guideline is anchored, and as the firefighter walks into the structure, the safety line is pulled from the container by the anchored free end.
One embodiment of the container comprises a fabric bag manually carried by the firefighter with the upper end having carrying straps and the lower end or bottom having an opening therethrough for feeding out the safety line packed within the bag. A pack of folded fabric webbing material forming the safety guideline is positioned between zippered sides of the bag. A free end of the safety line extends through the bottom opening for pulling out the guideline after the free end is anchored.
Another embodiment of the container comprises a bag which may be mounted or secured to the body of the firefighter by an upper belt loop and a lower strap about the leg of a firefighter much like a western holster. The outer portion of the bag includes flaps folded over a pack of the fabric webbing forming the safety guideline. The flaps have hook and loop fastener (VELCRO) strips therein, and the flaps are releasably connected to each other over the folded guideline pack. Rather than strapping such bag to the firefighter""s leg, such bag may be directly fastened (e.g. be sewing) to the pants leg or coat of the firefighter.